What are the odds

Mad Dog_2

Mad Dog

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Ken Field

That this will work

My tech went to a tune-up appointment this morning and saw this. The homeowner was beaming because he and his nephew installed this new system. The old boiler was a Bethlehem dynatherm. Those boiler were great for steam because they had lots of surface area. I think this boiler is not going to perform well but would like some opinions. The homeowner thought we would finish the wiring, fill the boiler and turn the switch on. We explained that the piping is not right and it would take several hours to clean and skim the boiler if it was. I want to let him know how likely it is that it will work at all. Any odds or opinions will be helpful. I think there is about a 1 in 20 chance that he will be able to sleep through the first cold night.

Ken F

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burnerman_2

save a buck

Well unless you are 100 per cent sure it will work walk away. or the guy will have you there all winter and expect free service "you wired it up why doesn't it work now" best thing for you to do walk away from it let him SAVE his buck go online and find out how to skim it (harry homeowner) royboy

Darin Cook_5

Isn't nice that they saved all of that money!

Now quietly depart the boiler room and never go back. You will end up "owning" the system for a few hundred bucks. No Way! Let them enjoy their savings!





Darin

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Brad White_194

Well, they did

polish the brass fittings nicely.

No true equalizer and the Hartford Loop intersection is way to long, is what I can see in the limited views.

I agree with Darin and Royboy with one exception- I would run rather than walk and not be involved in so much as giving an opinion. Maybe direct them to a typical Owners Manual, but even that is a risk.


I would warn the neighbors too

J.C.A._3

I concur....

Dual hammer symphony.....here we come! JCA

Mad Dog_2

Yep...we get those calls too.............................

"....we're laying the tubing but we are TOO busy to "tie it in to the boiler.....just rough it in for us...we'll do the finish...Can you leave us a tee in the gas line - over here - just in case I wanna.......I'd do this myself, Im just too busy at work....we installed this mod-con boiler we got off the internet..we JUST need you to set it up with the combustion part of it" Stay away from yo-yos like that....it will ALWAYS come back to YOU!! because YOu are the professional. Mad Dog

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Ken Field

Yes it was

but he didn't know how to install the draft regulator and thought we'd take care of that after we finished the wiring. Yeah right. The cost of that wasted visit will be added to the re-installation if he calls me for that.

Ken

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Edward A. (Ed) Carey_3

Yepper

Ken,

You have received great advice from all here.

Unfortunately, your average DIY homeowner thinks, "The last one to work on ANYTHING on the boiler is the first one responsible for EVERYTHING on the entire heating system"

When the hammer symphony starts and water is squirting out of his line vents, I can just picture him saying to his nephew, “That damm Ken screwed up all of that good work we did. What a hack he is” (Which we all here know is not true).

Ken, sometimes the best and most profitable business decision is to know when NOT to do business.

Good luck,

Ed Carey

Ken Field

I'm not on the hook

and will not be put there. I'm not sure if the homeowner had any intention of us getting fingerprint evidence on the job or not, but as soon as my tech saw the new boiler he called me. He took photos and left. I suspect that the HO will call for a price on start-up and I want to preempt that with a letter clarifying the problmes and what will happen when he flips the switch. It may build credibility for me when he turns on the boiler and my predictions come true. At least he has the boiler sized correctly. He matched the size to the price I gave him last year when I gave him a proposal for a Megasteam. 26 gauge pipe is not available in our area in lengths over 24 inches and I can see a piece in one picture that looks like what was left over from a 5 footer. That must be 30 gauge. He will likely pay more overall for this job than if he had just accepted my original proposal and took a part-time job doing something he was qualified to do. Hopefully he had fun and bonded with his nephew because everything else is a joke.

Ken

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